What are cask ales?

[Martybhoy]

I was in London recently and briefly visited the Craft Beer Co. pub.

The two pints I had in there were both from casks, rather than kegs. They weren't too cold and carbonation was low (but in a good way).

So, can anyone tell me what exactly cask ales are, and how they differ from kegged and carbed beer?

And what is the best way for the homebrewer to replicate this type of beer?

Cheers

 

[chewie]

Afaik a cask ale is naturally carbed rather than forced carbed, it will be served using a beer engine rather than having gas force it from the keg and will be naturally conditioned, we already do already pretty much have cask ale if you prime a pressure barrel or corny or prime and condition bottled beer.

 

[terrym]

In short Cask Ale is a live beer containing some yeast that is allowed to settle in the cask (usually with help of finings) after its delivered to the licenced premises, and is then usually dispensed through a handpump, or an electric pump, or by gravity direct from the cask. Although it contains CO2 from the fermenatation process it is further gasified by air as it passes through the delivery nozzle (except gravity fed beers).
Keg beer is filtered and/or pasteurised to remove solids like yeast and is considered to be dead like all bottled beers that are not naturally conditioned. It is kept and served under gas pressure (usually CO2 and/or nitrogen) which deliveres the beer and gasifies it.

 

[Sandimas]

As above.

The best way to replicate it is a pressure barrel, I much prefer my homebrew ales from a barrel/keg than a bottle. The main problem (especially this time of year) is keeping the keg at the right temperature, mine's in the house and it's just too hot. But in winter it's great. Some people use an old fridge to keep it at the right temp.

 

[terrym]

The best way to replicate it is a pressure barrel, I much prefer my homebrew ales from a barrel/keg than a bottle. The main problem (especially this time of year) is keeping the keg at the right temperature, mine's in the house and it's just too hot. But in winter it's great. Some people use an old fridge to keep it at the right temp.

+1 on that.

 

[MickDundee]

Minikegs are another way of replicating cask ales.

 

[peebee]

I was in London recently and briefly visited the Craft Beer Co. pub.

The two pints I had in there were both from casks, rather than kegs. They weren't too cold and carbonation was low (but in a good way).

So, can anyone tell me what exactly cask ales are, and how they differ from kegged and carbed beer?

And what is the best way for the homebrewer to replicate this type of beer?

Cheers

A bit of bedtime reading? https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwzEv5tRM-5EQUhZbDNPdmV1bWc.
Strictly speaking a cask has two openings, one to put the beer in (and later let air in) and another to put the tap in and get beer out. Kegs have one hole into which goes beer (and comes out the same way) and also gas. Then you've got "Corney" kegs which don't fit either description but get called kegs anyway.

 

[Sadfield]

Keg beer is filtered and/or pasteurised to remove solids like yeast and is considered to be dead like all bottled beers that are not naturally conditioned. It is kept and served under gas pressure (usually CO2 and/or nitrogen) which deliveres the beer and gasifies it.

Not true. Depends on the beer and kegging system. Usually the domain of the very large breweries. Many smaller breweries put the same beer into cask or Keykegs, which don't gasify the beer on dispense.





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[Martybhoy]

Thanks for the replies.

So if I were to get a pressure barrel, add beer and prime it, how do I add pressure, or does the priming do that on its own?

And do these barrels produce a good head on a poured pint?



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[Davemc]

Thanks for the replies.

So if I were to get a pressure barrel, add beer and prime it, how do I add pressure, or does the priming do that on its own?

And do these barrels produce a good head on a poured pint?



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Priming it will add pressure initially but as you draw off beer you may run out and in order to avoid air getting in, you add Co2 from either the small co2 bulbs or a cylinder. You will get an initial head but it won't be the same as you get from a hand pulled pint. For that you would need a beer engine. I drink in a Micro pub where the real ales as served from gravity, as it will be from a pressure barrel so not having a good head on the pint doesnt bother me.

 

[Thumper]

The priming does that. You add sugar, the yeast makes CO2. Providing the beer is in a sealed container that CO2 dissolves into the beer for the most part, but will fill any empty headspace first, thus pressurising the barrel.

You can also buy a special cap and little CO2 canisters which you can use the pressurise the barrel.

 

[chewie]

So if I were to get a pressure barrel, add beer and prime it, how do I add pressure, or does the priming do that on its own?

Before dropping a wedge of cash on a pressure barrel read up on the problems with them, these forums are full of people having issues with them. At upwards of £50 a pop they aren't cheap so be prepared.

 

[terrym]

Not true. Depends on the beer and kegging system. Usually the domain of the very large breweries. Many smaller breweries put the same beer into cask or Keykegs, which don't gasify the beer on dispense.

OK.
Is what I said about keg beer completely 'not true' or perhaps partially or even mostly true, or are we into splitting hairs?
And what's a Keykeg when its at home? Its no good just casually mentioning stuff like that when folks want a simple explanation.

 

[Sadfield]

OK.
Is what I said about keg beer completely 'not true' or perhaps partially or even mostly true, or are we into splitting hairs?
And what's a Keykeg when its at home? Its no good just casually mentioning stuff like that when folks want a simple explanation.

What isn't true? Your generic description of keg that doesn't account for contents, type of vessel or dispense method. Not all kegged beer is filtered, pasteurised or gased at dispense. Just one of the many types of keg, is the keykeg. This is how CAMRA described Keykegs.

Invented in 2006 by a Dutch company as a one-way container (i.e. filled once, used, then disposed of), the key to the system is the “bag in ball” principle with the beer sealed in a flexible synthetic bag held inside a gas tight rigid plastic outer – originally a ball but these days more commonly a tall cylinder. To serve the beer, the space between the bag and the outer ball is filled with pressurised gas, forcing the bag to collapse & pushing the beer out to the bar. Effectively, the Key-Keg is a cask which shrinks as the beer flows.

The gas never comes into contact with the beer so any gas can be used – while many pub cellars use the CO2 which is on hand anyway, compressed air works just as well. Because the gas never touches the beer, it doesn’t make the beer “gassy” the way beer from traditional kegs can be. Importantly for CAMRA, it means that if what went into the bag was real ale – unpasteurised, unfiltered beer containing live yeast - what comes out will still be real ale – beer which has “matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide.”



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[Thumper]

"beer which has matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide.”

Is that how CAMRA defines real ale?

 

[chub1]

Before dropping a wedge of cash on a pressure barrel read up on the problems with them, these forums are full of people having issues with them. At upwards of ��£50 a pop they aren't cheap so be prepared.

True enough,i know someone who has two barrels and has probs with both,now getting shot.
I must say i purchased a 10 litre barrel last year,only used it one as yet but it was great. I have the sparklets type bulbs and i used once right towards the last knockings.Had a black IPA in it,lush:thumb:
Will be using it again in the winter as i have nowhere cold enough for it at this time of year.

 

[terrym]

Before dropping a wedge of cash on a pressure barrel read up on the problems with them, these forums are full of people having issues with them. At upwards of �£50 a pop they aren't cheap so be prepared.

I operate 3 cheap standard barrels, the type which cost about �£30 (although I bought when Tesco were selling them at �£25, even without any sale discount). I don't bother with CO2 addition I just part reprime if I need to, since the caps I have only have a pressure relief.
I admit they are not without their problems, particularly if they split along the seams as can happen, but if treated with a little care and attention and the seals and taps are checked from time to time they can be a very useful addition to a home brewers kit. When I do a stout it always goes into a PB since when dispensed from the tap it suits the style.

 

[Sadfield]

"beer which has matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide.”

Is that how CAMRA defines real ale?

You would have to ask them. The OP was regarding Cask Ale, cask Ale and Real Ale are not the same thing. Beer can be racked bright into a cask and not undergo secondary fermentation.

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[simon12]

A pressure barrel that you add CO2 to at any stage will make it less like a cask (but will stop it going off). If you release the pressure and leave it to settle again before you serve it it would be much more like a cask beer but you would need to finish it in 3 days. As for the head various types of taps will vary the head for different styles some you can only get with the correct tap and pump. But basically what cask ale is ale served from and naturally carbonated in a cask.

 

[Colonel Porter]

I know it's a matter of preference and personal taste, but I find cask beers to be a bit of an 'excuse' to serve warm, flat and usually 'off' beer.

We seem to have been convinced that this is how beer is supposed to be.

I'm sure that properly cared for cask ales are perfectly good but I've yet to find one.

I'd much rather drink a cool, crisp, clear pint with a nice head than something that looks and tastes like pond water.

Col. P.